10 Of The Most Ridiculous TED Talks

Richard Feloni, provided by

Published 1:00 pm, Saturday, August 23, 2014

TED Conferences have been held annually since 1990, and their speeches have become an international sensation since TED shifted its focus to an online audience. More than 1,700 presentations are now available to watch online, and viewers around the world have streamed TED Talks more than one billion times.

The talks are mostly about science, psychology, communication, and innovative businesses. Many are interesting and valuable — but some that are just plain weird.

We've picked some of the most ridiculous talks, from one about a self-proclaimed cyborg to another about a woman whose wearable technology channels its users' own voice to their ears through a tunnel.

An Oregon activist demonstrates how to dry your hands with just 1 paper towel.

Oregon activist Joe Smith wants to reduce waste in the U.S., which is a noble pursuit, for sure. And it's interesting to discover that Americans use 13 billion pounds of paper towels a year. But his instructional presentation on how to revolutionize drying your hands, "How To Use A Paper Towel," is just plain silly.

His technique: "Shake, and fold." Shake your hands after washing, and fold your towel before using — a two-step process Smith enthusiastically demos for his audience with a variety of paper towels. "The fold is important because it allows interstitial suspension," he explains. "You don't have to remember that part, but trust me."

Neuroscientist Greg Gage choreographs a cockroach leg.

This is probably one of the weirdest science experiments featured on TED: a severed cockroach leg waving back and forth to the bass notes of rock music. In "The Cockroach Beatbox," a November 2011 talk, Gage uses the insect to demonstrate how brains receive and deliver electrical signals. And don't worry about the leg the cockroach loses — Gage assures us that it'll grow back.

In "My Mushroom Burial Suit," Lee explains how the human body is full of "toxins" and that traditional burial methods poison the environment. It's why she's training mushrooms to recognize her body's excess skin and hair cells, so that when she's buried, the mushrooms can decompose her body.